UC Irvine

In continuous flow biocatalysis, chemical transformations can occur under milder, greener, more scalable, and safer conditions than conventional organic synthesis. However, the method typically involves extensive screening to optimize each enzyme's immobilization on its solid support material. The task of weighing solids for large numbers of experiments poses a bottleneck for screening enzyme immobilization conditions. For example, screening conditions often require multiple replicates exploring different support chemistries, buffer compositions, and temperatures. Thus, we report 3D-printed labware designed to measure and handle solids in multichannel format and expedite screening of enzyme immobilization conditions. To demonstrate the generality of these advances, alkaline phosphatase, glucose dehydrogenase, and laccase were screened for immobilization efficiency on seven resins. The results illustrate the requirements for optimization of each enzyme's loading and resin choice for optimal catalytic performance. Here, 3D-printed labware can decrease the requirements for an experimentalist's time by >95%. The approach to rapid optimization of enzyme immobilization is applicable to any enzyme and many solid support resins. Furthermore, the reported devices deliver precise and accurate aliquots of essentially any granular solid material.